Molecular MR Imaging of Prostate Cancer

The Influence of the Functional Group on the Physicochemical and Biological Properties of New Phenanthro[9,10-d]-Imidazole Derivatives

The search for safe, cheap, and repeatable diagnostic methods is a fundamental research goal. Currently, great hope is placed on fluorescence imaging. However, the development of this method mainly depends on efficient fluorescent probes. Designing and obtaining new probes with potential applications in fluorescence imaging is very difficult because compounds of this type must meet several requirements related to their properties. Therefore, this article attempted to obtain and study new phenanthro[9,10-d]-imidazole derivatives (PK1-PK3) with potential application as fluorescent probes for fluorescence imaging. The main goal of the work was to assess the effect of two functional groups (such as the formyl group (PK2) and rhodanine-3-acetic acid (PK3)) on selected physicochemical properties and possibilities of practical application of the considered compounds. The conducted studies proved that the influence of the functional group is significant, as it causes a bathochromic shift in both absorption and emission results (by the order PK1 < PK2 < PK3). Moreover, all compounds could stain live cells cultured in vitro. The staining efficiency was not affected by the cell line, thanks to which we obtained the correct staining of both mouse and human cell lines. PK3 was the most attractive of the tested compounds due to its staining potential of live cells and retention after fixation. Our results also showed some antibacterial and antifungal activity of the newly synthesized compounds (PK1-PK3). Among them, PK3 showed the highest antimicrobial effect, especially against Gram-positive bacteria.

Liquid biopsy in triple-negative breast cancer: unlocking the potential of precision oncology

In the era of precision oncology, the management of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is rapidly changing and becoming more complicated with a variety of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted treatment options. Currently, TNBC treatment is based on prognostic and predictive factors including immunohistochemical biomarkers [e.g. programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)] and germline BRCA mutations. Given the current limitation of existing biomarkers, liquid biopsies may serve as clinically useful tools to determine treatment efficacy and response in both the (neo)adjuvant and metastatic settings, for detecting early relapse, and for monitoring clonal evolution during treatment. In this review, we comprehensively summarize current and future liquid biopsy applications. Specifically, we highlight the role of circulating tumor cell characterization, circulating tumor DNA, and other preclinical liquid biopsy technologies including circulating exosomes, RNA liquid biopsy, and circulating immune-based biomarkers. In the near future, these biomarkers may serve to identify early disease relapse, therapeutic targets, and disease clonality for patients with TNBC in the clinical setting.

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI of Prostate Lesions of Simultaneous [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 PET/MRI: Comparison between Intraprostatic Lesions and Correlation between Perfusion Parameters

We aimed to retrospectively compare the perfusion parameters measured from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of prostate benign lesions and malignant lesions to determine the relationship between perfusion parameters. DCE-MRI was performed in patients with PCa who underwent simultaneous [68Ga]Ga-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-11 positron emission tomography (PET)/MRI. Six perfusion parameters (arrival time (AT), time to peak (TTP), wash-in slope (W-in), wash-out slope (W-out), peak enhancement intensity (PEI), and initial area under the 60-s curve (iAUC)), and a semi-quantitative parameter, standardized uptake values maximum (SUVmax) were calculated by placing regions of interest in the largest area of the lesions. The DCE-MRI parameters between prostate benign and malignant lesions were compared. The DCE-MRI parameters in both the benign and malignant lesions subgroup with SUVmax ≤ 3.0 and SUVmax > 3.0 were compared. The correlation of DCE-MRI parameters was investigated. Malignant lesions demonstrated significantly shorter TTP and higher SUVmax than did benign lesions. In the benign and malignant lesions subgroup, perfusion parameters of lesions with SUVmax ≤ 3.0 show no significant difference to those with SUVmax > 3.0. DCE-MRI perfusion parameters show a close correlation with each other. DCE-MRI parameters reflect the perfusion characteristics of intraprostatic lesions with malignant lesions, demonstrating significantly shorter TTP. There is a moderate to strong correlation between DCE-MRI parameters. Semi-quantitative analysis reflects that malignant lesions show a significantly higher SUVmax than benign lesions.